New Member

HeavyD

HeavyD

Daily Driver
Hi new member here, Thanks for letting me join. My name is DeLaun Willoughby and I am looking for and old friend a '76 orange X 1/9 vin 128AS0048228. Last seen by me in 1981 in Sacramento CA. Any help to pointing me in the right resources would be appreciated. Also any info on how to search a 12 digit vin number would be great too. Thanks for the fantastic forum. DeLaun
 
Welcome.

Finding an old friend like that may be heartbreaking, especially since the last time you saw that friend was in 1981.

The number of these cars that made it into the junk yards of California in the late eighties and early nineties is depressing. Especially 1300s with their interference engines.

Good luck in your search. I will have a look at how to look for a particular VIN, it may be quite difficult in many areas as different states don’t title old cars.

All he best and welcome to the XWeb.

Karl
 
"Heavy D" from the SLC Utah area. Reminds me of Dave Sparks. Hey, aren't you a bit too large for a X? :D

The older VIN's with non standard format are very difficult to research. The best approach might be to give detailed descriptions of the car, where and when it was last known, the history, etc. This forum is a very tight community and there is a change of someone here remembering something that might lead you to it.
 
kmead said:
Welcome.

Finding an old friend like that may be heartbreaking, especially since the last time you saw that friend was in 1981.

The number of these cars that made it into the junk yards of California in the late eighties and early nineties is depressing. Especially 1300s with their interference engines.

Good luck in your search. I will have a look at how to look for a particular VIN, it may be quite difficult in many areas as different states don’t title old cars.

All he best and welcome to the XWeb.

Karl
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the welcome Karl, I seen photos of a few cars in northern CA salvage yards on my first few google searches and it is heartbreaking indeed to see some of these cars thinking it might be your old friend. I'm sure the reality when it is your old car is worse.

JimD said:
Here is the old registry that Mark Harris put together for Xweb V1.0. You can search on VIN, but DeLaun's specific VIN doesn't appear to be registered in the database.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jim for posting this link and the welcome. Since you are a moderator congratulations on the great job you do on the forum. Thanks to Mark Harris for taking the time to put the registry together.

Dr.Jeff said:
"Heavy D" from the SLC Utah area. Reminds me of Dave Sparks. Hey, aren't you a bit too large for a X? :D

The older VIN's with non standard format are very difficult to research. The best approach might be to give detailed descriptions of the car, where and when it was last known, the history, etc. This forum is a very tight community and there is a change of someone here remembering something that might lead you to it.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dr. Jeff, what happened to vehicles vin #'s that had less than 17 digits when they went to the current format? Where they assigned a complete new number or did they incorporate the original vin to a 17 digit number?


I know finding it is a needle in haystack kind of search and it could be disheartening on so many levels even if I somehow manage to find it. #1 will it be salvageable #2 will I be able to acquire it #3 how much time and money am I realistically willing to put into this car. And yet somehow it all makes perfect sense. I have come up with a 100 percent no fail plan to find this car and that is to go ahead and buy another 1/9 and this car will show up the next day. I've found a couple at the 5K range that look like a nice clean running and driving car. A couple more at the 7.5K range that are very nice. This will give me something to drive and an example to put the old gal back together in a restore if I find her. Besides it seems to me that after browsing one really isn't enough.


One more thing is thanks to everybody on the forum for the pics OMG what a bunch of beautiful cars you guys have, and the work you have gone through to achieve the end result is amazing as the end result.
 
HeavyD said:
what happened to vehicles vin #'s that had less than 17 digits when they went to the current format? Where they assigned a complete new number or did they incorporate the original vin to a 17 digit number?
Click to expand...
Basically nothing happened to them. They retain their original (non standard format) VIN's. That is why they are hard to trace, none of the data banks or other resources are able to utilize those VIN's and therefore are no help.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Basically nothing happened to them. They retain their original (non standard format) VIN's. That is why they are hard to trace, none of the data banks or other resources are able to utilize those VIN's and therefore are no help.
Click to expand...
Thanks for explaining this, now I get it.
 
HeavyD said:
I know finding it is a needle in haystack kind of search and it could be disheartening on so many levels even if I somehow manage to find it. #1 will it be salvageable #2 will I be able to acquire it #3 how much time and money am I realistically willing to put into this car. And yet somehow it all makes perfect sense. I have come up with a 100 percent no fail plan to find this car and that is to go ahead and buy another 1/9 and this car will show up the next day. I've found a couple at the 5K range that look like a nice clean running and driving car. A couple more at the 7.5K range that are very nice. This will give me something to drive and an example to put the old gal back together in a restore if I find her. Besides it seems to me that after browsing one really isn't enough.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum! This sounds like the way to go :D
 
Well I pulled the trigger and bought this little gem, a 1978 project car. I'm not sure if I've seen one painted like this with the black stripe continuing over the wheel wells, haven't decided yet weather I like or not. Any recommendations for a transport company? Can't wait to get it home and see what I've got.

12.jpg 8.JPG 13.jpg 2.JPG
 
Looks like a pretty nice "project car". :)

Illinois plates. Is the car actually in Illinois?
 
JimD said:
Looks like a pretty nice "project car". :)

Illinois plates. Is the car actually in Illinois?
Click to expand...


Yes, in Kewanee IL, I actually bought the car on a FB video chat. It was a first for me. Actually worked well, I would explain the areas I wanted to look at and he would pan his phone camera giving me some great shots that I couldn't see in the pics posted in the ad. It was listed as a project car that runs but needs work but he couldn't get it started during our chat, but it did turn over easily. I felt the price was right regardless because everything else was in such nice condition. I've been getting quotes for shipping, they are either way low and no action,(still waiting) or way high. Hopefully I can find something in between and get it home, I'm burning up nice driving weather.
 
If you can try to get a covered transport or a small company that uses the humpback three car carrier behind a dually pickup.

Lots of companies shift the cars from carrier to carrier, a non running car is very difficult for them to deal with and they charge more.

Ensure the car is loaded facing forward, the targa top can be torn off by the wind when carried facing backwards.

I would ensure you get excellent pics of the car before it is put on the carrier and once it is on the carrier to prove the quality of the car if you need to make an insurance claim.
 
I've used U-Ship before - with somewhat mixed results.
https://www.uship.com/?r=2304&cmp=G...MI6onnuIKT6QIVkONkCh096QVpEAAYASAAEgK59vD_BwE
My advice, figure out a target price and stick to it. You should get lots of bids. Be prepared to pay more for a non-running car, and INSIST that the carrier be able to prove that your car will be covered by the hauling company's insurance. Have a place that a large car transporter can unload and keep in touch with the driver during the trip.
 
kmead said:
If you can try to get a covered transport or a small company that uses the humpback three car carrier behind a dually pickup.

Lots of companies shift the cars from carrier to carrier, a non running car is very difficult for them to deal with and they charge more.

Ensure the car is loaded facing forward, the targa top can be torn off by the wind when carried facing backwards.

I would ensure you get excellent pics of the car before it is put on the carrier and once it is on the carrier to prove the quality of the car if you need to make an insurance claim.
Click to expand...


Thanks Karl, They called this morning I just happened to get lucky and that's what they're hauling it on. Isn't covered but the way I understand it wont have to be moved or unloaded and reloaded. The seller took some pics of the car being loaded and I have the ones from the ad, so hopefully if I got 'em I wont need 'em. I passed on the instructions about facing forward but I think the car was already loaded by then and in the pics it's being loaded forward.




MikeHynes said:
I've used U-Ship before - with somewhat mixed results.
https://www.uship.com/?r=2304&cmp=G...MI6onnuIKT6QIVkONkCh096QVpEAAYASAAEgK59vD_BwE
My advice, figure out a target price and stick to it. You should get lots of bids. Be prepared to pay more for a non-running car, and INSIST that the carrier be able to prove that your car will be covered by the hauling company's insurance. Have a place that a large car transporter can unload and keep in touch with the driver during the trip.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike, I tried Uship but the quotes were high in my opinion. I would like to take credit for taking your advice about a target price and sticking to it, that's what took place but it was because of the shipping company.



What a difference a day makes, I got a call this morning and they said if I would add another $75.00 they could pick it up today and it would be delivered on Monday. I used shipacar.com and so far I'm happy with the service, of course they just bid it out to the little guy trying to make a living. I hope I'm as happy with the actual carrier when the car gets here. My biggest fear was that the driver would have to move this non running car 5 or 6 times and by about the 3rd time have a gut full of it and start banging doors and slamming things around. So I'm into shipping a total of $675.00, I figured about $1200.00 if I was to go get it myself, not to mention 4-5 days in a vehicle. I'll let you guys know on Monday how things turned out. As always I expect the worst and hope for the best.
 
OK.... so the car arrived on Sunday the 2nd! a day early! That thing called life has been getting in the way so I'm a couple of weeks behind reporting. My first observation was that either I have grown over the last 40 years or these cars have gotten smaller lol. The car survived the transport OK, it was actually on a 40 foot flatbed goose neck trailer and the car shared the trailer with a 40 foot long by 3 1/2 foot wide crane jib. Like my wife said there probably isn't another car that would have fit on there with the jib. After inspecting my second observation was that there is some good, some bad, and some ugly.

The Good:
This car has been licensed and running up until a year ago. Overall it seems to be in fairly good condition. There are some maintenance receipts that show the car has been maintained and hasn't been sitting for years so I do not feel the need to drain all the fluids and replace all hoses and lines at this time. The fluids, hoses, lines etc look clean.

The Bad: There is a lot more work needed on the car than I hoped for but it was advertised as a project car so that is what it is. I find a new ding everyday, somehow they hide until the florescent lights find them.

The Ugly: RUST that dam RUST! When I looked at the car via video chat I couldn't see any rust in the rear trunk fender wells but after seeing the car in person there is rust from the outside fender well and as soon as I touched it my finger went on through to the inside. Also the drivers side floor is rusted through so it looks like a rotisserie is in the future.

So now for the questions! I have so many but I will start out with this one. Went to change the v belt and the timing belt ( a bolt breaking fest indeed) and this is what I discovered. As you can see when the cam pulley is lined up with the snail mount with the old belt on the crank pulley is off by about 10 or more degrees?(see white dots on pulley marks) what now? After taking the old belt off do I rotate the crank pulley CCW to the mark? Do I need to determine what stroke the crank is on? Do I start over lining up marks with the belt off? I have read several threads about changing the timing belt and aligning the marks but the more I read the more confused I become. I know I'm over thinking the situation so if someone could explain timing belt change for dummies and what actions I should take from here that would be great. Thanks D
 

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First a warning, since you have a 78, you need to assume it has an interference engine. Timing belt changing is a little more complicated due to the need to watch the position of the cam and crank. I will try to find the 1300 specific belt procedure.

I have the old 1300 from my 78 on a stand and have a picture of the marks in question. Note: This is just a picture pointing out the marks and they are oriented where they existed when the engine was pulled, not at TDC.
1300 cam timing marks 3 notes.jpg

Where is the crank pointing on the marks on the plastic belt cover?

Second, PB Blaster is your friend. Apply liberally the day before you intend to start wrenching. :)
 
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